The Final Days of New Jersey's Last Kmart! Saying Goodbye... Westwood, New Jersey, September 2023.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2023
- Join me as I take a look at the last Kmart in New Jersey during its final days! This is one of the last three Kmarts in the continental United States and it's slated to close on September 30, 2023.
If you liked this video, please give me a thumbs up, leave a comment and subscribe to my channel! Thanks!
Source of information:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kmart
www.csmonitor.com/Business/20...
#kmart #retail #newjersey #westwood #nostalgia #shopping #fleabittenadventures #departmentstore #bankruptcy
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My mother worked for our local Kmart here in south Tennessee in the 1980’s. My brother and I were very young at the time and my father was suffering from brain cancer! For Christmas one year, Kmart gave my brother and I $200 each for a shopping spree that was captured on the local news! They let us come in after hours and use those gift cards! I’ll never forget that! Fast forward to 2023 both my parents are long deceased as well as that Kmart store. That store closed in 2007! Lots of memories.
what y'all get?
It was Christmas 1987! I got lots of He-Man characters, GI Joe, Transformers and lots of other popular toys from that time!
The store is now deceased too
Thanks for sharing your story, it's great.@@GM-iw4qn
you know what date and what tv station?@@GM-iw4qn
Kmart was also known for those big round air vents that you don't see in modern stores. One reason for Kmart's failure is that they never remodeled/modernized their stores and still use old outdated cash registers. Also bad managment
Like Sears too. It's business liquidation. But Yus those big vents I remember from the 90's.
Was a design from that era.
Most K-Mart buildings were 50 years old. Thats how they built em in 1970.
The ACME in Stamford, CT still has those ancient air vents (former A&P)
I'm pretty sure Big Lots have those ac units too
R.I.P Kmart. You were a great brand and will always be remembered as one if the greatest stores ever and always will be forever.
That gunk under the shelves is from the wax stripper and floor wax. It gets built-up over the years. Big box stores usually have their floors stripped, cleaned, and re-waxed a couple of times a year.
I worked as a 'utility man' at a chain of discount department stores on the east coast, mid-Atlantic region. Two Guys (from Harrison, New Jersey) the chain was called. I stripped, waxed and buffed the floors there when I was a part-time worker after school. It was actually satisfying to do the buffing after the process of stripping was finished. It was a real nightmare in the winter if we had any snow because the amount of dirt and salt tracked-in from outside was mind boggling. I don't know how our crew got everything shipshape late at night so that the store could have a normal opening in the morning. I used to get two or three extra hours at night in the winter.
This is sad. Just thinking of my childhood and through the years of how many times I went to Kmart or Sears. Most of those times being around the Christmas holiday season. I could always go into Sears and find some tool or gadget for my Dad. Who can forget as a kid getting into the fall season and getting that Sears Christmas wish book in the mail and looking through it for hours. R.I.P. Kmart and Sears, gone but not forgotten.
Do you remember the great Toy section they use to have? I loved the Masters of the Universe figures as a kid.
And my childhood Kmart in Kearny, NJ closed May 2,2021
It really is sad! I went to mine here in Mercer county New Jersey rite up until it closed in December of 2020! It was either the 15th or the 19th n took my kids bcuz I wanted them to have some sort of memory of it. It was a huge staple in my life especially like u said around the holidays! But when I moved from the city to the township it was one of the only things I lived close enough to where I could walk to it. I used to go to the snack counter and get soft pretzels and a slurpee! They had the plastic nfl team cups at the time back then! Then I’d go raid the toy aisles! It was always a place of fond memories for me! I remember they had a food vendor come out when the weather was warm and u could get hot dogs and a soda for real cheap! I don’t know what that was for I imagine just to drum up business by getting ppl there for that n they’d end up going in the store afterwards? But it was a fun place for a kid
I miss Kmart. This felt like a trip back in time. Our Kmart has been closed for a few years now. I would love to have it back again.
Absolutely shameful what Lampert got away with. He stole the wealth of two American icons and destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives among employees, retirees, suppliers, creditors, other stores in malls and shopping centers, etc.
I'd say Kmart employees did it to themselves I remember how lazy and rude they were
@@KirksCORNER Maybe at your store, nothing but great times at the BIG K at the Ohio Valley Mall
@@Attipatty well then it was my store so I am glad that store closed.
@@Attipatty big k is a new name for Kmart the 2nd time around
@@KirksCORNERsure skippy whatever ya think LOL !
This was very nostalgic for me. My mother worked 30 years for Kmart and me and my siblings grew up there, it was almost like our own town. She part of the store closings before she retired and we lost her a few months ago. This video was bitter sweet but did bring back a ton of memories. Wow.
I remember when K-Mart had a cafe open to everyone.
There is a Cafe' there are suppliers of Coffee, Creamers, Sugar, Salt, Side dishes meal, Bon appetite!
They had the most delicious shaved steak and cheese sandwich.
I worked 10 different Kmarts in my career. My first one had a simple deli counter that sold basic stuff, the others either a K Cafe or a Little Caesar's. Two stores in Virginia I had the K Cafe directly adjacent to my shoe department. I spent many a 15 minute break and lunch periods there. Good times.
Their butterscotch pudding was excellent!
Yeah I remember getting popcorn and cotton candy as a kid
So very sad to see a company that has been around over 100 years to close its doors forever.... i worked at the Lawrenceville Kmart 3259 for over 20 years... aaah..the blue light specials... K Mart shoppers look up and look arround for that flashing blue special ......... And as always, Thank You for shopping the Lawrenceville K Mart!
Wanna be blown away? Search Australian Kmart tours, the brand is alive and doing really well. Modernized, and profitable. So it stands to question, why did they fail in America, when this is where they were born?
The liquid came from mopping the floors or depending on store they'd have the little riding floor cleaner. Not a ton of liquid but overtime and several thousand runs... well.. you can see when they finally move things around. The booth near the bathrooms was most likely layaway. Really cool video, always loved going to Kmart.
That was the gunk mentioned for dirt which couldn't be removed beneath display cases.
That’s what I thought
The liquid comes from mopping the floors. The caked up outline visible under the gondolas is old wax from when they waxed the floors. The wax builds up in layers under the gondolas over the years since they rarely move.
That spot by the bathroom was most likely used for layaways when K-Mart had layaways. I used to work at K-Mart and that's exactly how ours was set up. No idea what they would've used it for when they did away with the layaway program.
I was just about to comment this..
Definitely the layaway area.
It was always in the back, near the bathrooms.
I never used layaway, but it was very popular back in the day. I always remember seeing it busy.
It probably just was used to clock in after.
@bL3dbL4k my first thought was layaway. But the one I worked at was no where near the bathrooms. Right next to the appliance dept. We had to do double duty
I live in Pearl River, NY and was at the Westwood K-Mart about a week ago. The store was almost empty, expect for some clothes for 70% off the normal price. It was depressing. I remember just a year ago, the store was fully stocked. One of the employees told me that the store will officially close on December 1, 2023. If you live nearby, check it out. It's pretty slim pickings these days, but you never know what's still going on be on the shelves.
I live in Monsey and that K-Mart was the only decent store around here. Now all that is left is the dumpy WalMart in Talman.
Isn’t that the one in this video that just closed last month???
Yes.@@Dingoplexor
@@vernonearl sad I wanted to get out to that one and I missed it now I’d have to travel way more to get to the one in NY
I live in North Carolina and hated to see Kmart go out of business. When I was a kid, we would go to Kmart in Greensboro the day after Thanksgiving every year to do our Christmas shopping. Finally in 1982, Kmart built a store in Asheboro where I live. It went out of business around twenty five years ago. Sure to miss it. Always enjoy your videos Tom!
I live in North Carolina as well... In Concord, and since the early 90s had a Super Kmart, it had a huge grocery center in it as well. I swear my parents would do all their Christmas shopping at Kmart. I miss it!
My late mother used to work at that exact store in her high school days from 1985 to 1987. I still have her nametag. Thank you so much for sharing!
Dayton, OH - Attention Kmart Shoppers! Kmart went way back to the late 70s for me. I remember the submarine sandwiches and ICEEs, the original Blue Light Specials and the prices ending in 97. My town got a Kmart in 1990 - the Walmart was in the next town. I loved shopping there. I was devastated when it closed in August 2016. I bought a ceramic soap dispenser that I still use in the bathroom. .....and as always, thank your for shopping at your Kmart!
Which store? Englewood, Springboro and Eaton all closed around that time. Just curious.
Yes! Kmart sub sandwiches and ICEEs were awesome in the 70s and 80s.
So Sad... Alot Of Memories Growing Up With Kmart.. Now Literally Everything Becomes The Past, National Video, Blockbuster, Sears, Woolworth, Kmart, Kay Bee Toy's, Toy's R US,
😢😢😢😢
Bradlees & Caldor
@@SSNESS Ames, Ann & Hope
K-Mart's demise is very sad. My mom and I would go there all the time. And the counter over by the bathrooms was probably where the Layaway was done.
It's not sad per say. All the stores were only there to make the management rich and that's what happened . It did its job and everyone moved on.
I remember when the Ames stores went out of business when I was 14. That was depressing. At least Ames closed all their stores at once, like ripping a band aid off quickly. Kmart is taking its their and its painful.
Hard to believe that was way back in 2002.
There's still an AMES store sign over a location in Seabrook, NH. It's been purchased by the neighboring Market Basket , but the renovation project hasn't been approved by the town yet. The store sits empty to this day.
@@stevenedwards8353 That's crazy, I want to say in 2014/2015 I bought a WiiU from my closest K-mart which was in long beach CA. I'm not sure when it closed down, but it had to have been within the past 3 to 4 years. I wanted to go one last time, because between 2014-2017 I bought alot of clothes out of there. They'll never be forgotten.
We had Zayres, then they become Ames in the late 80s, and the Ames all closed in the 90s..
Wonder if Ames stores is related to my Ex. Kept his last name after divorce.
Our Kmart closed around 2005, I worked there, but I remember when we started taking the store apart, there were things that fell under the counters and in behind the walls back when it was first built in the late 70s. I think there were some posters, clothing and of course, money. It was like a time machine. It was also a fun place to work at, it was hard, but I met a lot of interesting people...had a lot of women interested in me working there too lol.
I worked at a Kmart in 2011 .it was a seasonal job .only real money Kmart ever made was in holidays. I guess there was already talk of getting rid of that location as I was working there .then 2 years later it was gone. They really went all in tho for Christmas season. The management seemed cool but had to get rid of all of us and only keep like 5 employees.
@@wingedhussar1453 Yeah Holiday season, mainly Christmas meant a lot of hours. Christmas stuff started coming in at the end of September and it was 1500 piece delivery every day until the end of November. I had to unload the trucks every morning. I was scheduled for 8 hours per day, but there were a couple of days when people would call off, so I had to work 16 hours. My manager told me to go home and get an hour sleep, then come back lol. Towards the end of my store closing, they fired lots of people who had been there 25+ years, some of them were known to steal stuff, but they could never prove it. Needless to say they were canned, then they had about 10 people total, 5 per shift. (not including managers) that is retail for you though, stores come and go over time. Eventually Walmart will go down the same way and all that will be left is Amazon or some other delivery type store. We're pretty close to not having much of anything if China stops shipping stuff to the U.S.
Last K-Mart I shopped at was in Somers Point, NJ in 2020. They still had a Little Caesar's in it. Bought pizza and the receipt had K-Mart at the top. I remember every K-Mart around me had a Little Caesar's.
Honestly one of my favorite parts of these liquidation sales is just seeing the random stuff they pull out of who knows where to see if it’ll sell. I mean, $40 seems reasonable for a desk but like you said, it’s probably too big to fit in most cars. Maybe a truck/SUV.
They would bring in inventory from other stores and outlets and try to sell it, too lol. It was kind of disturbing to see prices marked up and then discounted.
@@millenniumman75 I have heard the practice of liquidators coming in to mark up prices before discounting. But in the two Kmarts I worked in that got liquidated, that did not happen. At least not in my shoe department. It was a straight discount off the original ticketed price. So I guess it depends on which liquidator. I had an awesome one. He made the process easy, straightforward and wasn't an asshole. He knew people would be losing their jobs and made it as painless as possible.
@@millenniumman75 After closing the first one, I transferred to another store in the area. 10 days later they announced they were closing that one, too! Since he was still in the area, they had Mike come in to liquidate that one, as well. When he saw me, he doubled over laughing. We both couldn't believe it. It sucked, but at least I already knew the guy and what to expect.
@millenniumman75 That's often from companies like Hilco which buy out these closeout stores from different chains. They own all the closeout signs and just move from chain to chain closing out stores. If stuff does not sell, it gets sent to a regional Hilco warehouse where all the unsold items go, and then get shipped out to the next chain they close down. This is why you start to see merch from other chains and completely unrelated items showing up at these sales. They are bringing IN stuff. Likewise, they have zero incentive to keep marking it down down down to zero because they will just pack it up, take down the signs and go to the next closing store.
The dirt underneath the inline fixtures most likely comes from spillage and washing the floors!
Enjoying your videos; keep them coming!
That is why Walmart is always moving these fixtures. They don't even disassemble when they move them. I've seen them slide something underneath with wheels on it and then several employees just move the fixture.
It's wax and build up from the floor cleaning machines. Water and dirt that get under the gondolas!
I've worked retail most of my life
The filth is because they use a floor stripper first and that picks up all the dirt and old wax and cleans the tiles almost like new. But it makes filthy water that has to be removed. What seeps under fixtures obviously is not removed and just dries there. The floor gets waxed and stays until the next time it gets stripped and the cycle repeats. Spotless and shiny floors are a huge sign that a store cares about how it looks. It takes a ton of work to maintain. This is why many stores like Kroger and Walmart have ripped out tile and gone for sealed but bare concrete floors that look awful but can be maintained with a mop robot. Personally the most beautiful tile floor I have ever seen was in a legacy Walmart that was later converted to the biggest version of the Supercenter. They went all out on that upgrade. It has white tile floors that are so shiny, you can almost see a reflection. When that store used to be open 24hrs, you could go in and see they had outside floor contractors in that store every night with a whole group of workers on riding mops and there was always at least one part of the store roped off so they could strip and wax. Incredible cost and effort to keep that white tile clean. It paid off. But all the recent Walmarts have not only had bare concrete floors, they dye them brown to hide the dirt. Pathetic. Kroger had nice tile but chipped it all up for the same brown concrete which they do not clean.
With retail dying, surprised that a market exists for store fixtures
That back area by the bathrooms was the layaway counter. The corner where you talked about the lights was the grocery section. The garden shop closed a few years ago. I grew up going to this Kmart during the 90s. I'm guessing they sold it but out front used to be a mini carousel and little car ride. Those rides that you put a quarter in.
I met my husband working at Kmart in 2003. My favorite time in life.
El Paso is now the only place in Texas where there's still a Sears, at Cielo Vista Mall.
Sears is long gone now in Chicago, Kmart went away in El Paso, TX in late 2017.
My last semester in college back in '96 I worked as an overnight stocker at the Hadley, MA K-Mart. My Mom worked at the North Adams, MA K-Mart until it closed in 2002. When I moved to Washington state the first store I went to was the Kent, WA K-Mart which eventually closed in 2019 and has since been torn down. It's been sad to watch the K-Mart brand slowly wither and die.
The "gunk" is dirt, soap, and old wax that builds up from being pushed under during sweep, mop, and buff cycles.
Way back in 1997 I was traveling with family out west and we stopped at a Kmart while we were in St George, Utah. At the time, NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield was driving a Kmart sponsored car and came across a diecast of it in that store. I still have that car today. Hopefully worth something someday.
I was a child growing up in the 1970’s in Westwood and remember when the area this KMart was built on was 26 acres of woods we used to play in. People were concerned back then about bringing such a large retailer into the area. They had a one hour fotomat which was a big draw and promised residents that building in those woods would mitigate residential flooding.
I worked in the shoe dept. from June 1978 until March 1982. in Southgate Michigan. most people do not know the shoe dept. sporting goods and the Auto dept were not owned by K-mart they only leased the floor space. the shoe dept. was owned by a company called Melville discount out of Hackensack N.J. until later Thom McCann took over. a few years after I left. wish them and Sears could make some kind of comeback. worked with a lot of good people while there.
My mom worked at S.S. Kreske in 1961 at the soda fountain with the spinning stools and a large bulk candy section. She also worked at a K-Mart in 1975 at the small cafe in back. They had a small deli sandwich section near the front and many good Blue Light specials on small sub sandwiches.
If you wondered why there was no blue light special police light on this Kmart, it was already bought by someone else for 100 dollars who was nostalgic about Kmart, it was even on the news.
I was born in Garden City, Michigan, which is about ten miles west of Detroit.
Garden City was also the home to the very first KMart, known as store 4000, as well as the very first Little Caesars store.
Really; started of Iiitch family empire Detroit red wing & Detroit tigers 🐯 etc etc
Fun fact: 3 months later the very first WALMART also opened their doors, not just kmart.
Really garden city ten miles from detroit didn't know that I live in metro Detroit area
So sad for me being a GenXer, I lived in Jersey and went to the one on Rt.22 and the other in Kearny since the 80's. Bradlees, WoolWorth, McCory, and KMart were the place to shop
Those electronic components weren't part of the surveillance system, but they were part of the video distribution from the electronics department. That large box is an older commercial Hughes satellite receiver, the one next to it was a newer model, and then there was an HDMI splitter used to show the same picture on all of the TV display models. I used to install these systems in all kinds of retail stores. It brings back old memories working in Kmart stores. My local one closed 3 years ago, and is now an empty lot.
Thanks for filming I grew up near there my mom worked there from 1985-92 my sister did the summer after she graduated high school in 1994 and I did in june 2000 after I graduated it sucked working there so I quit before July that area near the bathrooms was the layaway counter I went back in august to take a trip down memory lane the things I miss the most were family and friends nights in the 80s maybe 90s the old logo that’s still used in Australia and I miss the eatery that served hot dogs and cookies and icee rip
Kmart was part of my childhood. You could blindfold me and put me in any Kmart in America and I would still know I was in a Kmart. I'll never forget the Kmart scent. It wasn't a bad scent. It was just a Kmart scent. Good memories. So long Kmart.
I know what you mean-the popcorn and icee scent😊
That's it! You hit it right on the head!!
@@CampsitePyro
My mom dedicated 23 years to Kmart. I grew up in the Bath, NY location.
I sure miss kmart..I grew up to Kmart shopping with mom alot..but then super Walmart was built by it then slowly Kmart became a ghost town..it was sad to remember the good times in Kmart when was so quiet inside..had to go to Walmart afterward to remember the sound of lots of shoppers running with their rattling carts.
Walking up to K-Mart back in early 70's i would beg my Mom for 25 cents to ride the pony rides. I just bought one for my grandson 50 years later. Merry Christmas Keller.
Target, Walmart, and Kmart all opened their first stores all 1962. Coincidence, Ithink not !!
1 OF THE GREAT'S !!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!😊
Great great video as always.
Pictionary Air Star Wars
Loved Kmart and the safe too😊 miss those days and store
I live in Missoula, Montana and our Kmart closed in September 2012. When I first moved here when I was 7 (circa 1992), going to Kmart was like going to a candy store. Our family would go to Kmart if they ever had any good deals.
I grew up there. Store looks pretty much exactly the same as I remember it from the 80s. It never really got updated inside or outside. That back area with the tin roof was part of the garden / lawn area. The electronics section in the 80/90s had video games and Nintendo / Super Nintendo display units with playable games.
So sad to see Kmart gone. Such memories as a kid.
Great video. I miss Kmart. Haven’t been to one in like 3 years. White plains NY was the last Kmart I went to in early 2020. This Kmart you showed in this video was the closest Kmart where I live. Like 3 hours away but if money wasn’t so tight all summer I would’ve went there despite the distance . Christmas tree shops closed last month in my area and I got lots of stuff at great prices. Bought a few of their file cabinets and a bunch of shopping baskets and of course has the CTS logo on them. I’ll miss these stores
My KMart closed in 2019, but I have memories dating back to the 80s and better days
Kmart in Guam still has Blue light specials
That was layaway by the bathrooms... Thanks, keep up your awesomeness and don't forget to compliment someone today...
About that gunk where the gondolas were. I worked at a Target a long time ago and can tell you, that gunk accumulated with the wax they use to keep those floors shiny. Each month in a rotating basis there would be an area of the store getting the wax stripped then reapplied. I figure this is a common ocurance in any similar sore. Even the seasonal, area where they gondolas were move with each season change to allow space for X-mas trees or patio furniture would need an extra cleaning to get rid of the gunk.
I worked in the Automotive & Sporting Goods departments from 88-94 here in Nampa, ID. That doorway that you first showed would have been the entry/exit to the garden center. that counter back by the restrooms was the layaway department.
Very interesting. I used to live in Walla Walla, WA in an apartment complex right next door to a K-Mart. And I remember walking over to the K-Mart to buy household items or some groceries. And now several years after moving out, I looked up the Google Maps of Walla Walla, WA and looked up ny apartment and looks like the K-Mart is completely torn down now. I remember as I was moving out I did see the signs going up that it was closing. I really enjoyed that store.
I have great memories of going to Kmart in the 90's as a kid. Those air vents always fascinated me. I feel like Sears had them also.
Im born and raised from NJ I've been to this exact Kmart so many times its crazy seeing it finally close
Great video Fleabitten!!! 🤗❤️🤗❤️🤗❤️I still long for for K-Mart myself I mean those where the days!!! 🤔🤔🤔
Thanks! Glad you liked it!
Kmart was a big part of the 70's!
I personally don't have too many attachments to K-Mart, but it is jarring to see a big name legacy store close its doors after so long. I do hope the workers got serious compensation and recommendations to other workplaces to keep afloat.
Pensions were liquidated long ago. Also how hard is it for a K-Mart cashier to get a job at Wal-Mart?
@@RichV20The hell with Wall Fart
A guy already bought the blue light specials and paid 100 bucks for it when the store first started liquidation
Sad, brings back memories, our K-Mart has been closed for years , Best Buy moved into it from a smaller location they had in town. Our Sears closed years ago too. Miss them both
I remember growing up in, the 90s going to the local Kmart in Reidsville NC mom would always do our layaway there during the Christmas season. Fast forward to 2011 I started working there till the time it closed in 2013. A radio shack a few doors down was closing shortly before we did. I still have my kmart shirt and keychain till this day. As of 2023 the building is used by a storage company.
Also thanks for posting this video!
I grew up next door in Hillsdale, I member when this was just trees! Then the K-Mart Plaza made them create a new street across the RR tracks with signals & everything. Been in here many times over the years, I even remember the old A&P in Westwood, before it turned into a liquor store, and I remember the old Valley Fair in Hillsdale before it turned into a ShopRite.
I remember when K Mart opened in Harlingen, Texas in 1978...the memories of shopping there during the holidays 😢....sad to see a friend go...
I use to work at a Kmart in California, long closed. It was the flagship Kmart in Bakersfield. It was one of the first Kmarts to close (1992). This store is in Westwood, one Kmart I never shopped at. It is sad seeing these stores closing. Kmart has been in business some 40 plus years and now we say goodbye.
Thanks for the video. I remember KMART had really good dial-up internet, Bluelight.
All the Kmart's in my area closed years ago but when they were open going into one was like a blast from the past. Not only was the merchandize not current the place just smelled like a time capsule that people had forgotten about.
5:30 - I remember seeing a desk like that in the Super K-mart back office, one of the manager's.
14:30 - Just a guess, but it probably was Layaway. Super K-mart here had restrooms together with the Layaway.
Correct, that is definitely the Layaway. It was a very common layout of a Kmart to have the public restrooms across from the Layaway area. Not all stores, but many did.
Kmart is done for. I am glad went Kmart stores. It was a good time. Good work on the video.
Would love to see another video at the New York K-mart!
I’m in AZ now but I grew up in north jersey. Less than ten minutes from this Kmart. For a while I lived right around the corner in Hillsdale. When my kids were toddlers we’d shop there for food, clothes and toys. After wards they loved to play on the rides they use to have in the front. This Kmart survived because the closest wallmart was like a a hour away. That ninja turtle poster is pretty awesome!
great review I went in this store 4 years ago it was thriving I bought some beanies.
Attention KMart shoppers! The time is now 8:45PM and in 15 minutes, the store will be closing for good. Please bring your final purchases to the registers...then GET OUT!
I remember going to the Kmart in Sherman, Tx as a kid in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. That location was only open for 9 years before closing.
I worked for Kmart from 1977-1993 in four different states. As a manger I helped open new stores in Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee over those years. I also assisted in remodeling several locations. Kmart was before it’s time and outdated. I helped install one of the first scanning systems used in the country. People called their clothes “cheap”, however some were made in major companies along side “name brands”. For many years Kmart hired employees to only work full time, so they got benefits. Most part time workers were students. After leaving the company for a prominent position in a smaller chain, my family still shopped at Kmart. Kmart made the mistake of building smaller stores in small towns, Walmart started building larger stores in those small towns. Kmart’s buyers didn’t understand that the south didn’t need gear and clothing for the northern states. When Kmart bought Sears, yes they bought sears, they had been bought by an investment firm. That firm began the downfall. Property was sold, re-investment went to the firm management rather than updating the stores. Death by management caused the closure of the chains.
The area across from the restrooms was for layaway.
This store is like a big 70s or 80s time capsule!
This is the sad state of American retail stores. My Sears and Kmart share a parking lot and I remember them I’d their heyday. Not a parking spot to be found. Now it’s wasteland. Truly sad…
The liquid comes from the floor waxer, and literally it will look like that after one year, counters get moved all the time, I broke down and moved many counters at my Kmart, I really miss the store and the people I worked with.
We lived in River Vale, a couple towns over from Westwood, back in the 1990s. Used to shop at this store all the time. Lotta memories.
That’s a perfect 😍 reminder as to the Kmart that closed here, in Casa Grande, Arizona. I think 🤔 it closed near 2014. I cannot specifically remember. Your friend, Jeff.
one thing i remember about a KMart here in san antonio texas, was when they had small kid sized shopping carts. my mom would always let me grab one whenever we went shopping. 😏 eras seem to be coming to an end back to back. 😪😔
We had a really nice Super K in Fairbanks Alaska, it was unfortunately closed during the first round of closures.
I remember the ‘blue light specials’ from the 90s. Had family pictures taken there back then. I worked in a Kmart for a month or so is New Boston, OH. I remember the back room being utter chaos. Clothes everywhere.
I used to go with my family to the US each fall, to visit the KMart and the other stores. KMart was always clean and well stocked, with their stuff well placed in the store, always loved visiting it. Great memories there, will always remember them.
I got a 1970's K Mart boxfan new in the box when they put the display items out ,it must have been from a inside office or back storage room & they couldn't find out the actual price & gave it to me with some fixtures my friends bought for their store .....that fan was a excellent find ,works great & definitely kept the dusty old box as well, they also let me keep a actual KMart shopping cart from the 80's ,my friend is using it as a prop
I miss kmart. I live in south jersey and my store closed in 2019. So sad! Goodbye kmart!
Me and my kmart coworkers just had a dinner reunion. We closed 4yrs ago. We miss everyone💖kmart was my home away from home.
Kmart has a special place in my heart. I worked at one of the 3 Topeka Kansas locations from 2001 to 2007 and met my wife there in 2005. That stone closed in April 2016. The first stone closed in May 2003 and the final stone in November 2017
My girlfriend work that exact Kmart in Westwood from 1988 to 1999 i found her 10 year pin & name tag .... weird seeing it like this brings you back...
DAN
The place by the bathroom might have been where they kept layaway ?
Is a jail for shoplifters
Definitely layaway.
This makes me really sad, such a beautiful era
The liquid under the shelf’s is more then likely from the floor machine. They spray water as they pass anything that gos under the shelf sits for years.
I have memories of Kmart in Paramus, New Jersey on route 17 , that's where I ended up going. It was like an aircraft hanger the building used to go there all the time as a kid throughout the 70, 80s and 90s I was more of an adult by then.. the other one was in Lodi New Jersey right off of the main street there, the other one was in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, right off of Route four that was like 2 miles from my home in Saddlebrook.. moved out to Phoenix metro Arizona two weeks before 9/11... there's a few Kmarts here to her used to visit the one off of power Road in Mesa. They completely destroyed that building I made it into apartment buildings. Right next to the target but here Walmart and target are king. Literally 30 to 40 in the metro area. Just Walmarts alone, and just as many targets... before moving here I've never seen a Walmart back in Jersey,, I believe I've been to this Westwood, one, more than likely I have
So sad to see it go. I miss it.
Liquid came from floors being cleaned and waxed every night. I was an Assistant Store Manager in California long ago. I used to do the Blue Light Specials. I would promote it on one side of the store and then quickly move across the store. It was fun watching the customers run to see what was on sale. They would laugh and enjoy the deals. Kmart ended it and sort of brought it back but lost it's charm.
Never really a Kmart fan but sad to see them go. I remember finding Night of the Demons 1 on VHS in the late 90s long before it came out on DVD. I was looking for that movie for a while and found it at Kmart.